Gaara Gets Chickenpox
by Dilly-Oh
Summary: Yet another, short, semisweet ficlet with Gaara getting sick and his siblings caring for him. Review please!


1Author's Note: Sorry, but I can't really write many fics like these because my main area of expertise is comedy. I try hard, but I don't think it's all that great. Also, I'm at college right now and don't have a lot of leisure time. On top of that, I'm trying to finish my Escaflowne fics (still got a lot of work to do on those). Maybe after I'm done those, I'll start writing some more Gaara ones. Hope you like it as much as the last one!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Gaara Gets Chickenpox

Gaara had chickenpox.

Of course, he had no clue as to what it was, as he'd never heard or seen about it before, but he found it even worse than the cold he'd been suffering from just a few weeks before. With the cold, there had been a runny nose, some coughing, and other unpleasantness, but this new plague had _itching_. And that's what made it all the more horrible.

_The itching_. It just wouldn't stop. No matter how hard he scratched or told himself to ignore it, it wouldn't go away. Eventually, he was forced to sit on his hands to stop from scratching, as he had scratched himself so much and so hard his protective sand had kicked in to stop him from hurting himself and came to the defense of the attacked area, wrapping itself around and shielding it. That just frustrated Gaara even more. Now he was itchy and couldn't even scratch himself if he _wanted_ to.

Small red bumps had broken out all over his person, even on the private areas of his skin that were never exposed until bath time. That made his itching all the more awkward, and the scratching downright embarrassing. Gaara hoped he got rid of whatever this was soon – being in public with itching in his nether-regions didn't seem very enthralling.

Along with the bumps and itching, Gaara also felt hot. _Too_ hot. His body felt like it had some kind of internal heater on too high and he'd broken the valve that kept it in check. He thought this was what Kankuro called a _fever_, but wasn't too sure. Maybe it was just something else, like the room was too cold and his body was making up for it, or something like that. It was definitely a fever.

Gaara tried to think of where he could have gotten it from. After his episode with the 'cold', Kankuro had enlightened him on the subject of sicknesses, and told him that people usually got them from _other_ people, most of the time by accident. Gaara thought back to his meetings with other people over the past week, and who could have given him this new sickness. He remembered having several meetings with the other politicians and important people from his own village, and walking through town a few times, but nothing strange had happened then. No one had seemed sickly or weak. However, he did remember a certain event that seemed rather suspicious.

About two weeks ago, he'd gone to visit the Hidden Leaf Village to discuss some mission requests with the new Hokage, Lady Tsunade. After the dull and boring meeting, he'd run into Naruto in the street and stopped to chat for a bit. During that time, he couldn't help but notice a certain beady-eyed little boy with a blue cape and crazy brown hair peeking at him from behind Naruto. The little boy had had several small bumps (not unlike the one's Gaara himself currently sported) on his face and arms, but since Gaara thought the small child was simply born that way, he'd willingly shaken his hand when Naruto introduced him as the grandson of the late Hokage, Konohamaru.

Damn. This meant he couldn't kill the kid for getting him sick. If he did, it would probably spark an all-out war between the two villages, which was definitely not what he wanted. His village's new-found peace was hard to come by, and Gaara didn't want to do anything that might jeopardize the lives of his people.

So the only thing he could do was bear it. Which wasn't easy, considering he was half-crazed from the incessant itching and he'd only been feeling that way for half the night. Gaara wanted to know what he had and how to get rid of it, NOW, before he went insane. It being the middle of the night made no difference to the nocturnal shinobi. There was only one person to go to in his time of need.

"Kankuro," Gaara whispered, poking his brother's head from where it protruded out from under the rumpled covers. "Wake up." A muffled groan was his only reply. Gaara frowned. Poke. Poke.

"Mmmmphh…" Poke. "MMMMPPHH…" _JAB_! "WHAT THE F-!" Kankuro jerked upright and (accidentally) flung himself off the bed with a crash. Several layers of blankets and a pillow followed. Sitting up with yet another groan and untangling himself from the sheets, he glared up at Gaara. "_What_, Gaara! Couldn't this have waited till morning?"

"Something's wrong with me." Gaara stated, scratching his backside. "Tell me what it is. Now." Kankuro made an annoyed sound, then shambled to his feet.

"Alright, alright. Lemme just put the light on so I can see somethin'…" Stumbling over to the wall, he slapped blindly around until his hand hit the light switch. The lights flickered for a few seconds, then brightened, filling the room with light. Kankuro sighed and turned to Gaara. "It better not be another cold or I'm gonna- _ohdearlordwhat'swrongwithyourface_!" Kankuro jerked away from his brother in stark terror. Gaara gave him a hurt look.

"What? You mean the red bumps? They itch." To demonstrate, he scratched them. Kankuro continued to inch away toward the door.

"Oh my…that's…that's…" he gulped. "You've got… _chickenpox_…" Gaara blinked in confusion.

"Chicken what?"

"Temaaariiii!" Kankuro hollered out his door. "Get in here, quick! Gaara's got chickenpox and I swear if I get them again-"

"You've gotten these before?" Gaara was surprised. He couldn't remember Kankuro having red, itchy bumps. Then again, he hadn't always been around his siblings when he had been smaller. "Tell me how to get rid of them," he demanded.

"You can't!" Kankuro explained, arms outstretched to keep his brother at bay. "You have to wait it out! That's all you can do, I swear!" He turned back toward the door to call for his sister again.

Gaara mulled over this new change in events. Apparently, this 'chickenpox' couldn't be destroyed, which was rather disappointing, as Gaara was looking forward to taking the medicine that would indefinitely kill this damnable curse. He would have to wait it out. But what did Kankuro mean by that? Just how long would Gaara have to put up with this constant sensation of itchiness?

"Mmmph…Kankuro, stop shouting. I'm right here," Temari mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she wandered over to Kankuro's door. "What're you yelling about?"

"Gaara's sick." Kankuro explained, pressed against the wall as far away as possible from Gaara.

"What, again?" Temari peeked past Kankuro and saw what the fuss was about. "Wait just one…that isn't…" Temari gasped in disbelief. "How on earth did you get chickenpox, Gaara?"

"What do you mean?" Gaara asked, seating himself on Kankuro's bed (who gave a squawk of indignation but otherwise made no attempt to remove his brother). "Isn't this a normal, everyday sickness, like my cold? Won't it go away soon? How long will this last?" The panic in Gaara's voice became more evident the more he spoke. Temari shook her head.

"Gaara," she explained. "Chickenpox is a sickness that you usually get when you're just a little kid. Only a few people grow up without getting it once in their lives. And chickenpox takes a while to run through your system before it finally leaves."

"Just how long are we talking about?"

"…About two weeks."

That kid was so dead.

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Gaara stared down into the murky water, clumpy with bits of oatmeal floating about. It looked like the foulest thing he'd ever seen.

"You want me to bathe in_ that_?" Gaara asked blankly, looking over his shoulder at Temari, who was just throwing away the oatmeal packet she'd emptied into the tub.

"Yes, Gaara," Temari sighed. "It'll help with the itching." Gaara pondered this for a moment.

"…Fine." He practically jumped in once Temari left the room.

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After the bath, Gaara did indeed feel a bit better. The initial roaring demand to scratch had died down to a soft murmur, and since Temari'd also given him some aspirin for the fever, his head no longer pained him and he found himself able to think more clearly. This allowed him to realize something.

Why on earth was Kankuro so terrified of chickenpox? Not only did he stay as far away from his brother without it being an insult as possible, but he'd heard from Temari that he had even tried to request a long-distance mission to the Hidden Mist Village, but had been denied. Whatever the reason, Gaara wanted to know.

He was sitting at the dining table, rubbing his still-damp hair with a towel when Temari strode in carrying her fan over one shoulder. Seeing Gaara up and about, she brightened.

"Feeling better?"

"Yes. Thank you." Gaara murmured, looking at his toes. Temari couldn't help but smile. "Are…" Temari perked up. "Are you gonna make me some soup?"

Temari laughed. "Oh, Gaara. Soup doesn't help chickenpox."

"…Are you sure it doesn't?"

"Oh, alright." Temari leaned her fan against the wall and moved toward the kitchen counter. "Kankuro!" She called. "Come help me make some soup for Gaara!"

"What? No!" From the sound of it, he was in the living room, probably watching television. "My fingers are still hurting from the _last_ time I helped you with soup, and I am _not _getting sick!" Gaara decided now was the time to ask Temari.

"Why does Kankuro hate chickenpox so much?"

"He got them when he was five," she explained, while fishing the ingredients for soup out of the numerous cupboards and drawers. "Complained for a month, I swear. He went out too early and gave it to a bunch of other kids. He gave it to me, too, the jerk. You can believe they got him back for that. Don't take it personally." Gaara nodded quietly.

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They were the longest two weeks of Gaara's life, but somehow, he made it through with his sanity intact. He couldn't thank Temari enough for the help and support she gave him (not to mention the tasty soup) throughout the sickness. Kankuro also helped, but only when there was no required physical contact with the patient. All the rest of the time he spent locked up in his room, afraid to come out, and no coaxing could persuade him otherwise. Gaara let him be.

"Look, Gaara! They're almost all gone!" Temari exclaimed, seeing the faded scabs of what had once been the bringers of Gaara's torture on his face and arms. Indeed, all the red bumps covering Gaara had nearly all disappeared. His fever had completely dissipated a while before, and Gaara was almost back to normal. Well, whatever normal was for him.

"I'm just glad that it's finally over." Gaara sighed. "And I'll never have to deal with this again." The front door creaked open and slammed shut. Kankuro was home. Slow, even steps worked their way toward Gaara and Temari, until Kankuro came into view from the doorway. Gaara's eyes widened while Temari gasped out loud.

"Gaara, I'm gonna kill you."

Kankuro's face was covered with small, red bumps.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Author's Note: I know it's not nearly as good as the first, but what the heck. I also don't know if it's possible to get chickenpox twice. Oh well. If it ain't just consider Kankuro a miracle of nature. Feel free to check out my other fics.


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